Monday, November 30, 2015

We arrived in Spring to Nevada, the most mountainous state in the contiguous U.S., to an area near rivers and lakes. I traded rattle-snakes and vultures for deer and hawks. I put plants into the ground and was pleasantly surprised that they flourished. I watched weeds grow and spread. We built trellises for honeysuckle.

In summer, we walked the streets downtown, microbrews in our cups, and listened to free jazz concerts. I traded 113 degree summers for a slight increase in humidity and comfortable nights. I traded swamp coolers for air-conditioning.

By the time October arrived, Carson City was engaged in the fun of Halloween. New homes in the sub-division decorated their front yards. I hadn't seen trick-or-treaters for decades; this year they came in droves. My favorites were the little lady bug, the bumblebee, and the superheroes.

Now is the beginning of winter and the maple tree, my barometer of seasonal change which I view from my office window, has lost all its leaves and the cold wind has ripped the protective covering from the tender bark. The local deer will be looking for that when food is scarce.

The rainwater clings to the chin of my gargoyle rainspout. Gargoyles make me smile; what can I say. My rainspout is a token of appreciation for the gargoyles I saw at Notre Dame. The ground here is covered with powdered sugar. My boots make tracks. While not as cold as the Wisconsin winters I spent my childhood surviving, there is still some relearning about how much damage frozen water can do. We had our first shattered water pipe, an abrupt lesson on battening down the hatches in preparation for the cold. Christmas gifts are leaning toward snow-shovels and long underwear.

You know how your computer or phone automatically updates to the most current and appropriate version of your apps? Reminds me of the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence; nothing stays the same. I've updated my life: Gave up my shot-gun for hand-gun. Work-boots for mud-boots. Dirt roads for asphalt. Caliche and sand for sidewalks. Scorpions for ground-squirrels. People ask where
I'm from and I tell them I just left 30 years in the middle of nowhere. It was an amazing ride, but I'm glad to be making my life easier on my body, a gesture of self-empowerment.

In the desert, I hunkered down into this time of year with soups and stews, warm bread, wood fires, and good books. In this season of life and of year, I feel less like a hibernating bear and more like a witness. Observe, notice, appreciate.

That said, I think a I'll make a pot of chili and some corn bread.

ADVICE CORNER

Ways to beat the winter doldrums, seasonal affect disorder, and other cold-weather melancholia:

1. Put on some Billy Holiday or Bessie Smith and sing the Blues.

2. Tap dance.

3. Learn some good jokes and tell them while you're waiting in long shopping lines.

4. Get cozy in the kitchen. Put a stew in the crockpot, a casserole in the oven.

5. Buy some flower bulbs (Narcissus are nice) and place in a bowl of rocks and water. Set inside your kitchen or near a window. Watch the roots and green shoots get a jump-start springtime.

6. Practice self-kindness. Get a massage. Go for a walk. Curl up with a cup of tea and a good book.

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OPTIMISM

HUMOR

"If things improve with age, then you're approaching magnificent."

-Nicole Beale

FAVORITE POETRY

You do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesfor a hundred miles through the desert repenting.You only have to let the soft animal of your bodylove what it loves.Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.Meanwhile the world goes on.Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rainare moving across the landscapes,over the prairies and the deep trees,the mountains and the rivers.Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,are heading home again.Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,the world offers itself to your imagination,calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-over and over announcing your placeIn the family of things.